


This Side of Morning

by brilligspoons



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 2, Family, Gen, Growing Up, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-22
Updated: 2013-02-22
Packaged: 2017-12-03 05:01:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/694443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brilligspoons/pseuds/brilligspoons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Laura experiences the shift for the first time on the third full moon after her twelfth birthday.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Side of Morning

**Author's Note:**

  * For [darthjamtart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/darthjamtart/gifts).



Laura experiences the shift for the first time on the third full moon after her twelfth birthday. It's early in the spring, and the trees have yet to fully sprout their new leaves, so her mother and uncle keep her close to the house and away from the roads where she might be seen. She remembers very little of that night, just bits and pieces of distorted scenery passing by her, the occasional explosion of scent overwhelming her nose, and the sense of _rightness_ embracing her. Laura wakes up late the following morning and panics when she realizes she's missing school, but Uncle Peter smiles and waves at her when she rushes down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Your mom called the school and told them you were sick," he tells her with a wink. He pushes a plate of pancakes and bacon across the counter. "Here, kiddo. Post-moon treat - don't tell anyone, they'll think I'm spoiling you."

Laura can't help the flush of pride that wells up inside her. "I bet Derek was so jealous when he found out," she says.

Uncle Peter chuckles. "Yeah, he wasn't too happy about having to go in. But he'll get there eventually." He pours a glass of orange juice for her. "You surprised us, though. I don't think any of us ever shifted this young."

"I'm just special," Laura says, mostly to get another laugh from him. The pancake smell makes her mouth water, and she drowns her stack in syrup before cutting into it. She pauses, then asks, "Am I really the youngest? To shift, I mean."

He tilts his head to the side and thinks for a moment. "The youngest in a while, I'd say," he says. "Probably since the Hales came over to America, at least." Laura grins at him, and he reaches over to tweak her nose. "Don't get a big head about it now. Wait until Derek gets home this afternoon, okay?"

Uncle Peter lets her watch television with him for the rest of the morning and explains all the finer points of his favorite soap opera to her. She feels something in her settle as he talks, though she's not entirely sure she noticed being _unsettled_ before now. Laura decides to ask her mother about it later but loses the train of thought entirely when Derek gets home from school.

(She remembers it years and years after the fact, the scent of burnt flesh and house assaulting her senses and Derek clinging to her in early morning light like he's trying to crawl inside her skin. The shock of power coursing through her body is gone, leaving behind only cold fury and anguish. Laura watches the doctors consult with each other about Peter's condition, and she wonders briefly if she's the youngest alpha before realizing that there's no one left to ask.)


End file.
